Moments of Time
by Ed Latorre
Summary: Short moments in the lives of the senshi. However, things seem a little different than we remember
1. Chapter 1

Just small drabbles that might get added to a later body of work

-While that was happening, Makoto and Haruka were in one of the many boutiques Haruka frequented. Makoto waited outside of a changing room while Haruka changed. She had looked at one of those daring outfits, looked at the tag, seen they didn't even bother to have price tags and backed away slowly. It would probably take her months of part time jobs just to afford one of those scarves Haruka had told her was a wrap skirt, and even then she'd be way too embarrassed to wear it.

"Are ya sure I can't get ya ta at least try something on? I have no problem payin' for it. Y'all came all the way with me. Consider it compensation for indulgin' me" came Haruka's voice from the other side of the door

"Save your money sempai" Makoto said earnestly. "This isn't my type of fashion anyway."

"Yer so maidenly Mako-chin! It's adorable. Sh sh sh." Haruka laughed on the other side. "Well, I think I've got this thing on proper, tell me what ya think."

Haruka stepped out and Makoto's breath caught. Haruka was wearing a leather bustier and micro mini skirt, both made of shiny black leather. Haruka's already long legs seemed to crawl up even more. Makoto felt a pang of jealousy.

"Wooooow, that's so bold! Aren't you embarrassed." Makoto said with a blush

"Hey, I don't dress like a girl too often. Might as well really push it when I do. Besodes, 's fun to watch people gawk"

Makoto suddenly had a mischievous thought. She knew exactly the button to press to make Haruka squirm in a situation like this.

"It's nice that you want them to stare, but I wonder what Michiru-San would say if she saw you like that."

Haruka looked like she'd been zapped by one of Jupiter's lightning attacks. The though of Michiru seeing her like this. The voices she'd make as she complimented her. Michiru's hands on her legs, tracing all the exposed skin, right up to the hem...

In real life, Haruka was standing there, grinning like a dork and stupidly laughing. It took her a minute to snap back to reality, and in a tiny, girly voice she said

"Well, now you've gone an' done it. Haf'ta buy it as is now."

Notes:

To start off, I have one of the more small moments. The timeline for this would be where the Dream Arc or SuperS would go. Yes, Haruka speaks differently from how she would have in the original series. In this universe, this Haruka originates from Fushimi, close to Kyoto and her accent is a western Japan accent, thus translated to a slightly genteel southern accent. She tries to remain cool, but her accent broadens as she loses her composure.


	2. Chapter 2

Mamoru and Usagi followed Ami's gaze, up 1 story, 2 stories, 3 stories up to the top of the water slide. It was a mass of loops, drops and terrifying darkness.

"So Coooooool!" They chorused, their eyes shining. Behind them, the others watched with a mixture of confusion and amusement.

"My" Motoki said with no lack of amusement as he saw the pair of "enemies" nearly vibrating with barely contained enthusiasm

Nearby, Ami stifled a giggle. They had made it plain they were not here together yet had spent the entire day doing things together since no one else could keep up with them. You didn't need a prodigious intellect like her, or second sight like Rei to see where this was going.

"Well I never," Rei huffed with a flick of her hair over one shoulder. "She's just flaunting her adorable little romance, isn't she?"

"Don't tell Usagi-chan that, Rei-san. She'd just deny it more fervently."

They watched the pair arguing over which who got to be on which side of the tube going down before Usagi picked up the double tube and started sprinting towards the slide entrance, Mamoru following close behind, cackling.

If you asked Usagi at that moment, she might not have denied it as hard as the others imagined it. Sure, he could be obnoxious, and he seemed to derive way too much pleasure from poking fun at her, but he was tall, handsome, he seemed like a good guy when other people (anyone not her or Motoki) were involved, and she loved having another person who could keep up with her in her misadventures.

Suddenly, a thought came to her, causing her to come to a dead stop. Mamoru, who was a step behind her almost plowed her over, and managed a face full of water as a reward for not. He came up from the water, sputtering and mad

"Hey! What's the problem, Bun-head?!"

"Where's Naru-chan?" Usagi asked to no one in particular. She had disappeared some time before Ami mentioned the water slide. Umino too

Suddenly, a sound registered to Usagi, followed by Mamoru. Their eyes followed the sound to the slide. Where from one of the tunnels came Naru in a tube with Umino. The sound was Umino's high, boy voice as he screamed in terror behind a laughing Naru.

"Naru-chaaaaaaaaaaaaan! I'm gonna fall oooooooooff"

On the ground, Usagi and Mamoru stared, first in shock, then in competitive irritation.

"Those jerks beat us to it!" They chorused.

* * *

This is set very early on in the first arc. I wanted to use scenes like this to establish WHY Mamoru and Usagi are a couple. I was never satisfied with his role as a bland romantic ideal for girls to latch onto. I wanted to establish him as a separate person with tastes, personality flaws and goofy traits to play off Usagi. I also wanted him to share tastes with Usagi. This is the beginning of what is forming because of that


	3. Chapter 3

The ringmaster had them eating out of the palm of his hand at this point. It was time to really seal the deal

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Earth. The Midnight Circus is proud to finish our show with something special. Please, direct your attention to the balcony and listen to the haunting musical performance of the midnight Circus's own ... Zirconia!"

The audience applauded even more energetically than before. Luna even jumped out of her seat, even though no one had seen the act yet. Something about this show just left them all in a trance.

Everyone except Usagi. Something about this place left her feeling on edge and nauseous. Something about watching these performances left a nasty taste in her mouth, right in the back of her throat. Usagi watched the old woman step out in an elegant gown and her stomach rolled in revulsion, and yet she knew she had no reason to.

The band began playing. The tune was jazzy, a little bit old fashioned. She remembered hearing this song on the radio quite a bit a year ago, but it had been a pop song then, not the haunting jazzy number this one was. The spotlight focused hard on Zirconia as she began singing. Usagi looked hard at the woman, and she saw the woman's eyes shift.

Hold on, was she looking right at Usagi? No way, that was impossible, she couldn't possibly zero in on one person so far away. It didn't matter what planet she was from. Then she heard what Zirconia was singing, but it felt like she was singing directly in her ear

"In our dreams we hear her voice  
It is the night that reveals our curse  
And though your senses tell you one thing  
The truth is reflected in your eyes  
Now we must all stumble on in sorrow  
Her thirst continues though our bones are dry  
Though the sun might rise up tomorrow  
For us it is endless night  
Hope and miracles so hard to define  
We seek them in the moon in your eyes!  
Though the passage of time marks you  
Time is endless inside of her world  
Despite the ticking clock her hunger never stops  
This is the cross we all must bear  
Hope and miracles so hard to define  
We seek them in the moon in your eyes!  
Though the passage of time marks you  
Time is endless inside of her world  
Despite the ticking clock her hunger never stops  
This is the cross we all must bear  
Hope and miracles so hard to define  
We seek them in the moon in your eyes!  
Though the passage of time marks you  
Time is endless inside of her world  
Despite the ticking clock her hunger never stops  
This is the cross we all must bear  
Ours is suffering beyond compare!  
WE ARE THE DEAD MOON CIRCUS!"

The audience thundered it's applause. Several people were crying. The sound was deafening.

Usagi sat bolt upright in her chair, her fingers clued like claws into the armrests. What was that song?! Were people really cheering for a song that dark? Why did the air feel so wrong? Did no one else feel this? At that moment, she wanted Rei and Mamoru by her side to tell her it was all in her head, that she was imagining it.

The ringmaster was drinking in their cheers. He almost missed the way Zirconia stared at him before being helped backstage. He smirked to himself. Let the old thing do what she wanted. Nothing could possibly ruin this moment. The cheers were like a fine wine to him. He soaked up their adulation. Yes, this was a world to set up shop in for a while.

+++

Afterward, in Crown Karaoke, Usagi sat behind the Big Fancy Computer , looking pensive. None of the others had felt anything close to what she had during the performance. She tried to call Mamoru, but he wasn't picking up his phone. Mako-chan had said he wasn't feeling well and she'd check in him when she got home.

She didn't like this circus one bit. They were wrong, and bad and no one else saw it. Usagi would have to take the initiative this time to find out who they were.

There was just one slight problem.

Usagi didn't know how to work the big fancy computer. This was Ami's job normally. When she was gone, Umino normally filled in, but neither shared her concern and were relaxing in the Karaoke booth with Naru and Motoki.

It was a painful process to find the keyword search, but at least she got that far. Now what had that old lady said in the song (when asked, none of the others heard the same song she did. The prevailing theory was that Usagi had fallen asleep and everything was a scary dream she'd had).

"Ah right" she said to herself, and typed in.

DEAD... MOON...CIRCUS

She had just hit enter and was waiting for results when her phone went off. She picked it up, hoping it was her Mamo-chan, but it was Makoto's panicked voice on the other end

"Usagi-chan! You have to come! Something's wrong with Anii!"

Those were the words Usagi feared more than anything else. She bolted out the door immediately.

Because of that, she missed the warnings coming from the computer. Page after page of information on the galactically wanted Dead Moon Circus opened up followed by repeated warnings about not engaging them, that we're were considered an extreme threat.

The last page was an image of a beautiful woman with curly black hair and unnatural beauty. She was considered the ringleader of the circus. Her name was listed as Nehellenia.

* * *

The Dream Arc you know is nothing compared what I have in mind, starting with this


	4. Chapter 4

"Got you!" Koan yelled as she unleashed a flame that slammed into Sailor Moon, burning a hole clean through her torso. She looked down, horrified at the hole.

Then she stuck out her tongue and dissolved into sparkles. Koan had been tricked.

Koan spun around. Where had she gone?!

Up on the Catwalk, Sailor Moon was running in a panic. She had hoped her illusion would trick that weird girl a bit longer. Now she was stuck running with Chibi-Usa in an even tighter space. She tightened her grip around the girl and picked up the pace.

"You can't get away from me that easily!" Koan crowed as she launched fireball after fireball upwards at Sailor Moon. The gold haired senshi screamed louder and nearly doubled over to dodge the flames

Unfortunately, Koan's wild shooting caught several of the support cables, melting clean through the reinforced metal. Without the support, the catwalk buckled under Sailor Moon's feet, sending her and Chibi-Usa dropping to the stage below.

Sailor Moon braced herself almost instinctively. Rei and Makoto's training paying off after all. She also gathered a lot of energy. She didn't have the calm it took to use Meikyo Shisui, but she could probably confuse the enemy and that would give her enough time to get Chibi-Usa out of there. Whoever she was, Usagi knew on some level she couldn't let them have her.

"Kyoka Suigetsu!" Sailor Moon called, her ring bridging the gap to her broach and activating it's particular power.

Sailor Moon landed in a crouch with a bang, her legs absorbing the pressure of their drop like steel springs. Then, to Koan's horror, she split into a bunch of copies, each one carrying he girl, and all running in separate direction.

"I won't fall for the same trick twice," Koan called, swinging her arms wide, releasing multiple fireballs. Most connected with the illusions, extinguishing them. As usual they all had to ham up the performance of "dying", several still in their death throes as Koan turned to find the ones still moving.

Of course, she failed to notice the one illusion that wasn't an illusion, struggle upward from the ground, a large burn on her back and limp her way down the theater aisle to the exit.

Sailor Moon was in agony. Sure, the wound was already stitching itself closed, but it still hurt like hell. She was glad Koan had fallen for it, thinking she was another doppelganger and trying to find the real Sailor Moon still. The dolls would do their job if she left them be now.

Koan hadn't had so much fun in awhile. It was like a video game, shooting these fake dolls. In fact, she had forgotten why she was there this time, which is why the sound of the exit door caught her off guard. She turned to see the door swing shut. She screamed at that, an inarticulate hate sound.

Using her flame as a jet engine, she propelled herself at the door, using a different flame to melt the wall clean open for her.

What she saw outside was an empty street, not even a sign of Sailor Moon's retreating. Koan cursed vividly in some language sailor moon had never heard before and after several seconds, threw up a hand and teleported away.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon was standing right up against the theater, having mustered enough concentration to turn invisible, her tiara turned into a boomerang already. She was panting. Kyoka Suigetsu was hard enough, but carrying another person and having been injured made things worse. Her vision was already blurring and there was a roaring in her ears. Seeing as the enemy had left already, she was sure no one would mind if she took a nap. She remembered feeling her knees buckle and shifting her weight she she wouldn't land on Chibi-Usa before the blackness took her.

* * *

Sailor Moon isn't immune to the changes I'm making. Yes, she retains her weapons and use of the Silver Crystal, but now she has pretty standard attacks, like the others. Being the senshi of the moon, her powers are built around illusions and dreams. Her two main moves are Kyouka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower, Water Moon) which creates simple illusions and the significantly more advanced Meikyou Shisui (A clear mirror, water that isn't moving) which creates solid illusions. She still has trouble controlling the illusions which are half driven by her subconscious and can tend to defy her at the most inconvenient times.


	5. Chapter 5

Koan's hands dropped to her sides. She'd used everything she had, producing enough fire to act like a small sun. No one could survive that.

No one.

All she had to do was wait for the smoke to clear and she could drag her remains back to lord Demande. It wasn't like she was dead forever, right. That silver crystal just brings back the dead... Right?

Koan tried to put the image of those bodies, twisted and broken out of her head. It was all in the name of Lord Demande's plan. Wiseman told them so. Why wasn't the smoke clearing?

Koan felt a cold wetness on her cheek, she swiped at it. She looked to see that it was water. More importantly, more water was beading on her skin wherever the fog touched.

Fog? It couldn't be!  
( /daPo6q4FXDw)

Koan looked up and realized she wasn't seeing smoke, she was seeing a frigid fog, spreading it's tendrils outward

"That was close." Sailor Mercury's voice sounded from the epicenter. "I thought Mars was the only person who could melt that much at once"

Koan was thunderstruck. How the hell could she survive that? Then the fog thinned and Koan couldn't believe herself.

There was Sailor Mercury , covered in a thick layer of ice, pieces crumbling off to reveal healthy flesh underneath.

"Did you know" Mercury began. "That the planet Mercury is actually closer to the Sun than either Earth or Mars. It's an extremely hot climate. Because of that, the people of Mercury had to find ways of surviving there. We eventually found a way to constantly make our bodies and the air around us be lower than freezing temperatures. On Mercury, it lead to us always being damp as any liquid in our atmosphere was condensing on us. It's how we got the name Suisei, (Water Star).

"Thanks to that technique, I can make ice anywhere; ice so thick even the flame of a sun wouldn't melt it. The name of that technique; that's what she was trying to teach me. It's name, Miss Koan is.

"HYOUREI"

Mercury threw her arms wide, shattering the ice. She started to advance on Koan

Koan panicked. If she didn't retreat now she'd surely be killed. She moved to run, only to realize too late that she had been standing in a puddle and it was now a sheet if ice ice that had grown around her feet, effectively trapping them.

Koan screamed, trying to wrench her feet free, to summon a fire to melt it, but she was used up, there wasn't any power left.

"Now it's my turn, Miss Koan. Prepare yourself"

Mercury crossed her hands in front of her chest, the fog instantly thickened.

"No! Please no, not like this" Kian pleaded as she tried anything to get free. She was panicking.

"Ice Make...!" Koan hear Mercury yell

Suddenly, Koan saw something fly out the top of the fog. It was Sailor Mercury flying upward, a giant shuriken in one hand, already spinning

"Shuriken!" She finished.

"Nooooo!" Koan yelled as Mercury released the spinning blade, right at her-

* * *

Yeah, I made Mercury a ninja. Shina Aqua Illusion is no more, replaced by a larger focus on tactical use of her powers.


	6. Chapter 6

"Stuuuuupid" Bertier said as Jupiter struggled to her feet again. "Just stay down. No matter how many times you try that little stunt, it's never going to work. Honestly, trying the same thing over and over again. I told you, pure water doesn't conduct electricity you stupid bitch. This is why I told onee-sama I didn't want to fight a barbarian like you. Honestly..."

Jupiter finally got to her feet. She was practically shaking with the effort. Those water bombs were devastating. She felt like she'd been punched all over. However, she knew that she had to get up at least this one more time.

"It's true, I might not be as smart as you or Ami-chan," Jupiter said. "And yes I do the same thing over and over again, but I'm still a Sailor Senshi, and you shouldn't underestimate me!" Jupiter took a fighting stance, gathering her energy for one last attack.

"pffft, of please. As if you have the power to do anything at this point. Folks like you are too stupid to know when to quit." Bertier flicked her arm and her shell of water reassembled itself over her body. It was the same pattern over and over and...

Something was wrong. The water felt wrong, Bertier looked at her shell and gasped. her water was cloudy. When had that happened? She was sure to only summon the most pure water to cover her body.

Her...body

"Those flowers" she gasped in sudden understanding.

"So you finally figured it out" Jupiter said through gritted teeth. "Why do you think I kept using flowers? Look around you. Every single thing here is covered in pollen. There was no way you could summon pure water and it stay pure."

Bertier started backing away. "You... you tricked me."

"You tricked yourself, stuuuuupid" Jupiter said, pulling the skin under her eye down in mockery. "You were so busy calling me stupid, you never even thought I might be up to something. Now hold still, just for you we're gonna do something different."

Bertier whimpered, and desperately tried to concentrate on making the water on her body dissipate.

Too late though, Jupiter finished charging her attack. Her ring practically blazed with emerald light as she slapped the reader on her chest.

"Shikō no Kaminari!" She thundered as a bolt of electricity flashed, instantaneously covering the distance between her and Bertier. The light was blinding for just a moment, leaving Jupiter blinking spots out of her eyes. She heard the body hit the ground before she saw Bertier's prone form. Limping over, Makoto wavered. That last attack had left her wiped. She at least wanted to make sure the chick was done before she passed out.

Standing (barely) over Bertier, Jupiter nodded in approval as she saw the girl was still alive, if slightly charred and unconscious. Bertier moaned in her sleep. Makoto smiled to herself.

"Stuuuupid" she said one last time as revenge, then she pitched forward, landing next to Bertier completely unconscious.


End file.
